Junya Ito’s Possible Positional Substitution Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The situation of Junya Ito, a member of Japan’s national soccer team, who was accused of sexual assault by a weekly newspaper, Shincho, is changing.

It all started with the February 1 issue of Shukan Shincho. In June 2011, Ms. A and Ms. B accused Ito of sexually assaulting them at a hotel in Osaka City. It was learned that they had filed a criminal complaint against Ito and others for “quasi-forcible sexual intercourse.

At the time, the Asian Cup was in full swing. The Japan Football Association, after consulting with Ito himself, decided to remove him from the national team. It is not known if this had any effect, but Moriyasu’s Japan team suffered an upset loss to Iran in the Asian Cup quarterfinals.

Ito, represented by Mr. Hirotaro Kato, has not only countersued Mr. A and others, but has also filed a civil suit against them, demanding 200 million yen in compensation, claiming that he has suffered substantial losses due to the Shincho report, including the termination of a sponsorship contract.

Ito’s case was also sensationalized by the Weekly Bunshun report on Downtown’s Hitoshi Matsumoto’s “allegations of sexual assault. Some even said, “Ito is next. …… Like Bunshun, Shincho thought that even if the case went to trial, we would have the advantage when it came to truthfulness and reasonableness,” said a publishing source with knowledge of the situation.